At this link on the Library of Congress’s website you will find a gold mine of tried and true lesson plans created by teachers that cover a wide range of history topics. All of the lessons use hyperlinked primary sources that will encourage the learner to dig deeper into the topic and make real connections with the subject.

When arriving at the link, you can search for lessons based on topic, era, or alphabetically. Topics include:

African American History

American History

American Indian History

American Revolution

Arts & Culture

City & Regional History

Civil War

Culture & Folklife

Discovery and Exploration

Government, Law & Politics

Immigration & Ethnic Heritage

Maps & Geography

News, Journalism & Advertising

Oral Histories

Photographs, Prints, and Posters

Poetry and Literature

Science, Technology & Business

Sports, Recreation & Leisure

Women’s History

World History & Cultures

World War I

World War II

Each lesson plan is laid out similarly and includes:

Overview – Includes a summary of the lesson, objectives, a means to check the standards met, time needed for lesson and recommended grade level.

Preparation – information and links to materials and resources used

Procedure – step by step instruction on implementing the lesson

Evaluation – Ideas for evaluating the students’ work

Some lessons also include a “For Students” section with more activities for the lesson.

While these lessons may have been created for the classroom setting, most can easily be adapted for the homeschool setting. Whether you are trying to put together a complete curriculum using primary sources or looking to supplement a specific topic, this website will quickly become a valuable source in your planning.

Created by Tom Richey, a high school and technical college teacher in South Carolina, this website is a neat resource for those looking for online PowerPoint presentations, lesson plans, YouTube videos and lectures, and more to supplement their AP history courses.

When arriving at the site, mouse over “Courses” in the upper navigation bar to find course material related to the following:

AP US History – includes Colonial America, The American Revolution, The U.S. Constitution, Jefferson vs. Hamilton, The Jefferson Republic, The Age of Jackson, The Crisis of the Union, Civil War & Reconstruction, The Gilded Age, Progressivism & Intervention, Twenties and Depression, WWII and the Cold War, Civil Rights & Vietnam, The Conservative Resurgence

World History to 1300 – Prehistory & Human Origins, Cradles of Civilization, Ancient Israel, Ancient Greece, The Romans, and Empires of Monotheism

HS 101 (TCTC) – Western Civilization to 1689

HS 102 (TCTC) – Western Civilization Post 1689

Current Events

When selecting a main course title, visitors will find the downloadable course syllabus and study guide. Use the “Courses” dropdown menu again, hover over the course to reveal the different units. Each unit page includes any applicable hyperlinked Unit Guides which includes course materials, a YouTube Playlist, lecture notes, and PowerPoint presentations.

When you have finished exploring the courses, check out “EOC Review” on the main menu for review materials. While the material is based on the South Carolina US History Standards, you don’t have to live in South Carolina to reap the benefits of this website.

Age Range: 6 and up (Grades 1 through adult; children with adult supervision)

We hear BIG numbers mentioned all of the time – government budgets require trillions of dollars, bailouts require billions of dollars, and NASA’s rover traveled millions of miles to Mars. Talking about these gigantic numbers is one thing – visualizing them can be very difficult.

One financial commentator, K.C. Cole explained:

We automatically ‘read’ a billion as about a third of a trillion. After all, it’s only three zeros off. But of course, a trillion is a thousand times a billion, and a thousand is a lot. Decrease your salary by a factor of a thousand, and it could go from 200,000 dollars to 200. Increase class size by the same amount, and your 15 students would turn into 15,000… Our brains haven’t evolved to directly deal with such staggering numbers, but we can use stories and metaphors to retrain ourselves.

Enter The MegaPenny Project that takes one small U.S. penny and shows you what a billion (or a trillion or more) pennies would look like. You’ll even find out how many pennies it would take to fill the Empire State Building. Not only will you SEE what that many pennies looks like, you’ll discover things such as the value of the pennies, size of the pile, weight, and the area they would cover (if laid flat). Computer images make visualization of these gigantic numbers and facts a snap.

When you get to the site you will see a brief introduction and a menu. For the best effect, ignore the menu and follow the progressive “tour” from start to finish by clicking on the words “Enter The Mega Penny Project.” You and your kids will be amazed to discover what BIG numbers really look like. You will also find out some fascinating information along the way, such as the answer to this question:

Would you rather be paid one million dollars today – or – would you rather be paid one penny today (1¢), twice that tomorrow (2¢), twice that the next (4¢), etc. for 30 days?

Go to today’s site to find the answer. When you finish exploring the MegaPenny Project – don’t miss the MegaMoo project. (Same idea, only using Holstein cows!)

Bonus! Reading Recommendation: To enhance learning about large numbers, your child may enjoy reading, One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale by Demi. You may be able to get it at your local library for free.

Age Range: 11-Adult (about middle school through adult; children with parental supervision)

“Stossel in the Classroom”, sponsored by the Center for Independent Thought (a non-profit educational foundation) offers a free DVD each school year that is a compilation of John Stossel’s television programs and specials designed for use in the classroom to enhance the study of social sciences. All you have to do is register (free), and agree to provide feedback once you’ve viewed the DVD – and the DVD’s will be mailed to your home or school address. There are also free, downloadable “Teacher Guides” for the DVDs at the website with lesson plans, activity suggestions, handouts, and vocabulary.

A new DVD is produced each year and is free to teachers including home educators. Right now you can get TWO FREE DVDs: the 2014 edition and the 2015 edition (while supplies last)! When you get to the site, you’ll see John Stossel’s smiling face and learn how to register to receive the DVDs.

When you’re through registering, use the menu at the top of the page to access all of the free resources available. Watch free “Streaming Videos” from Stossel on thought-provoking topics. Past videos are archived at the site. You can also search the videos by subject. Since today’s focus is on Science, search the topics for:

Biology

Business Chemistry

Computer Science

Engineering

Environmental Science

Health

Science

Technology

Bookmark this site and come often to find tons more resources on topics like:

Accounting & Finance

Agriculture

Art

Civics

Drama

Economics

English Language Arts

Government Law

Journalism

Marketing & Advertising

Math

Music

Parenting

Political Science

Social Sciences

Sociology

Spanish Language

US History

World History

Again, all of this is provided for FREE – they simply request that you provide feedback on the website and products to share with fellow teachers/educators.

You can use John Stossel’s thought-provoking programs to launch lively discussions, question conventional wisdom, gather and analyze information, and distinguish between fact and opinion.

When you register at the site, you will automatically receive the quarterly e-newsletter with convenient links to order the latest free DVD, play the free monthly streaming video clips, and access the featured teacher resources.

This website from the Miller Center, a nonpartisan affiliate of the University of Virginia, is your one-stop destination for your Presidential studies.

When arriving at this link you will find a grid of Presidential portraits. Simply click on the image of the President of choice and you are taken to the informational page for that President. Each page includes:

“Facts at a Glance” which provide snippets of biographical information in a concise manner

Essays on (PRESIDENT) and His Administration – Links to more in-depth information about the President

First Lady and other important members of the government at the time of Presidency – each linked to biographies

Presidential Speeches – links to texts of speeches. For Presidents after Herbert Hoover, there are also audios of speeches and after Eisenhower there are also videos

Scholarship and Speakers – a selection of Miller Center resources on the President

Scripps Library Reference Resources – “links to reference resources prepared by the Miller Center’s Scripps Library, designed to help students and scholars conduct their research quickly”

From the main page, you may select the “Speech Archive” button for quick access to all the Presidential Speeches. Select “Riding the Tiger” for a blog that examines current events through the “lens of history” and features resources from the digital archive of the Miller Center.

After selecting the “Presidential Classroom” on the main page, choose from either “Exhibits” or “Lesson Plans” for tons more supplemental materials and helpful classroom activities that allow students to dig deeper into U.S. history and government.

There is so much valuable information available at this website, neatly compiled for ease of use and navigation, that you will find yourself coming back time and time again.

This website provides world statistics updated in real time that is simply astonishing to see. There isn’t much to do at the site except watch the numbers change instantaneously. However, the more time you spend looking at the data, the more questions you ask, and the more things you learn! This is a veritable springboard to learning through addition.

When you get to the site you’ll see numbers flashing before you that represent the statistics on a variety of topics that include:

World Population – Watch the numbers advance on births, deaths, and the net population growth today.

Government & Economics – Watch the mind-boggling figures increase on expenditures in healthcare, education, and the military. Discover the number of cars, bicycles, and computers produced or sold this year.

Society & Media – Find out the number of book titles published, newspapers circulated, TVs and cellular phones sold, money spent on video games, and how many emails and blog posts are sent/made in a day.

Environment – Learn how many forests were lost, how many tons of carbon dioxide were emitted this year, or the species that have gone extinct and more.

Food – See the amount of food produced this year, the number of undernourished people in the world, number of overweight people, money spent on weight loss programs, etc.

Water – See how many people have no access to safe drinking water.

Energy – Discover the energy used in a day from renewable and non-renewable sources. See the number of days to the end of oil, gas, and coal.